Lantmännen, Chief Brand Officer
About Lantmännen
Lantmännen is an agricultural cooperative and Northers Europes leader in agriculture, machinery, bioenergy and food products. Anneli was hired as a full time in different leading roles and had a leading role in developing Lantmännens corporate brand between 2011-2015. First as Manager Corporate Brand Identity & design and then Corporate Chief Brand & marketing Officer.
Company: Lantmännen ek förening
Owner: 20 000 farmers in Sweden
Employees: 10 000
Located: 20 countries, head quarter in Stockholm, Sweden
Revenue: 5 billion USD
Background
Between 2011-2015 i had a leading role in developing the corporate brand Lantmännen. In the summer of 2017 I was hired as Project manager for three TV commercials to make sure the story and execution was align with the brand strategy.
2011-2012: Head of Corporate Brand identity & Design
2012-2014: Chief Brand and Marketing Officer, Corporate brand
The challenge
Lantmännen have an endorser brand strategy which means that the mother brand/corporate brand (the sprout) is the symbol for responsibility, heritage and the Swedish farmer. All products have their own brands. The challenge was that almost all people in Sweden recognised the logo (the sprout) but didn’t know the products behind the company. They also didn’t know about our work with sustainability in the whole chain from field to fork. On top of that nobody wanted to talk about the farmers who actually are the owners and also the heroes that grows the beans and the grains that gives us healthy, good and sustainable food.
Goal
- We wanted to increase brand awareness about the brand and our work with sustainability.
- We also needed to strengthen the connection between the corporate brand and the different product brands.
Solution
When i started working at Lantmännen the marketing communication had a focus on food and sustainability. I wanted to align the communication closer to the the Brand strategy and our endorser strategy between the corporate "mother brand" and the product brands. I wanted to focus more on The farmer and sustainability for the mother brand and then connect it to the products. The media agency, the brand strategy agency, the design agency and the advertising agency all agreed. So we started the journey.
Brand strategy:
Endorser brand strategy for corporate brand and product brand strategy
Packaging:
By putting the corporate logo as a garant and the brand promise and story on every package we had the opportunity to tell the authentic story about the responsibility from field to fork.
Advertising:
We also told that story in tv commercials, tv sponsring, ads etc. We used the well-known retro hat as a visual symbol for the farmer. We gave away supporter hats and 30 000 hats were ordered in 2 weeks. It became a success. We could see an instant result in sales and brand awareness and we started to build a tribe of loyal fans. The farmers became the heroes.
TV commercial, Brand marketing ads etc:
Message: Together we take responsibility from field to fork
Awards:
Consumers in Sweden name Lantmännen the most sustainable brands in Sweden.
2014: #1 Sustainable brand in Sweden
2018: #1 Sustainable brand in Sweden
